Several substances appear to have contributed to the mass fish die-off in the Oder River. According to the minister
“The search for the reasons for the death of fish on the Oder has not yet beencompleted,” said ministry spokesman Andreas Kübler. “So far we have found several organic and inorganic substances that could lead to the extinction of fish.”
“It looks like it’s a cocktail of chemicals,” he said.he told journalists in Berlin. — According to our data, none of these substances by themselves led to the death of the fish. Several factors may have led to the fish deaths.”
Kübler noted that algae, which are usuallygrow in brackish water and produce a substance that is toxic to fish and “could have played a role in the disaster.” Thus, recent laboratory results showed a sharp increase in Prymnesium parvum in the Oder, which appeared as a result of increased salt levels caused by “industrial emissions,” he said.
Prymnesium parvum is a haptophyte. This type of algae is dangerous due to its ability to produce the phycotoxin primnesin.
Dead fish in the Oder were first noticed by fishermen onsouthwest Poland at the end of July, but German authorities said Warsaw did not formally notify them of the situation until the second week of August. The Polish government is trying to find those responsible for the disaster. Ten tons of dead fish have already been removed from the river.
The Oder is the third longest river located inwithin Poland (after the Vistula and Warta), but is the second longest river overall considering its total length, including parts in neighboring countries. Its length is 840 km: 112 km in the Czech Republic, 726 km in Poland (including 187 km on the border between Germany and Poland).
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Cover photo: Tobias Nordhausen